In this AU Delilah was never murdered. Lucifer part time runs the Lux, part time rules hell and Maze regularly goes down to spend a few days torturing souls.
Chloe and Lucifer first met at the Gillian Taylor case (2x01) Lucifer helps Chloe solve the case and she and Ella notice the strange powers Lucifer has. When a criminal tried to kill Chloe (chapter 5), Lucifer protected her with his wings: so Chloe, Ella and Trixie found out Lucifer really is the devil.
Chloe asked Lucifer how he could ignore his dad's orders if he didn't have free will. God listened to prayers of Chloe, Lucifer wanted to know why. God showed up to explain. During the Big Bang he gave the cosmological constant a wrong value, he in the present needs help to warn himself in the past and change that value. He tells Chloe and Lucifer together will give that help without realizing.
Now – just before this chapter – we have Rory as child of Chloe and Lucifer, Julia (human) and Na'amah (demon) as Rory's sitters. Julia, Raziel, Maze and Na'amah have visited Raziel's home in heaven. Uriel seemed not to be pleased with that visit.
Last caseChloe and Lucifer were working on wasthe Philippe Ordonez case, who stool a manuscript about pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
Julia and Na'amah were almost involved in a heavy accident, but just escaped because something strange happened around Rory: the girl appeared double.
Chapter twenty-four: A kind of cat and another accident
[C]
"Mr Hennson from Holy Land Publishers to see you," the receptionist told Chloe through the phone.
Chloe sighed: the company that had published Philippe's book. "I will come to pick him up."
She went to the reception, shacked hands and invited mr Hennson to come with her to a meeting room.
"I'm grateful you can meet me," the man said. "I try to understand what happened with mr Philippe Ordonez, this mr Sergio Casanas and the manuscript. By the way, I heard you have the original hand-written manuscript."
"The LAPD has the original manuscript, not me," Chloe corrected him.
"Yes, yes. But mr Ordonex was murdered by mr Casanas' family."
"I already explained to your colleague Peter Rawling what happened," Chloe said.
"Peter is no longer working for us," mr Hennson said. "So, I would appreciate if you can tell me."
"Philippe Ordonez was murdered by Sergio's sister. Sergio's wife or children didn't know and were not involved. He had a very close relation with his sister Tara. Tara had read the book you published as Philippe's pilgrimage to Santiago and she realized that book was based on a manuscript stolen by Philippe from her brother. Since Sergio's had disappeared she expected Philippe to have killed her brother, so decided to revenge him."
"That is proven?"
Chloe thought back at the confrontation with Tara Casanas and her 'twin' Nicole Fraser. It had only taken a flash of Lucifer's devil-eyes for less than a second to make the two women confess. "She confessed."
"Holy Land Publishers would like to take a look at mr Casanas written diary."
"That's up to the DA," Chloe reacted. "That diary is evidence in a murder case."
"But we can bring out a new edition of the book, with the story of the murder and extra pieces from the diary. It will sell even better than the old edition."
"After the trial the diary will be handed over to Sergio's wife," Chloe said.
"After the trial? Think of all the publicity that court case will give! We need the new edition is on the market before the judges handle this!"
Chloe shook her head. "As I said, that's up to the DA."
She watched mr Hennson leaving and shrugged. Knowing the DA, she was certain Hennson would not get the diary before the trail.
[R]
Rory's new class had twenty-two children, herself included. She knew five of them already, from kindergarten or her neighborhood, but after a few days she found herself hardly talking with those five. There was a twin her class with who she mainly hung out: a boy and a girl who lived only two street crossings away from Rory, but who she had never met before. Jane Verner was the girl and Mason the boy.
"Also Verner," he had said when they first talked with Rory. Rory had nodded. It was not always that siblings had the same family name, herself and Trix were an example of that fact, but for twins… It looked for her as likely that twins would have the last name, but she hadn't been sure and only had nodded.
"Jane?" she had said to the girl. "My middle name is Jane, after my mother's middle name."
"My middle name is Penelope, also after my mother's middle name."
"And my nana is called Penelope."
Oneway or another that had settled it, so it were again twins that became Rory's best friends.
The large garden behind Mason's and Jane's house reached to a small lake. Rory had been playing at its bank with Mason and Jane before and at a Thursday afternoon the three were again at that waterside.
"There is an animal on the island," Mason said. 'The island' was a small island in the lake, maybe fifty yards away from the shore, covered with tall grass and shrubs. Rory knew the twins had been on it, but she had not yet visited it.
"Where?" Rory asked.
"Something black. It looked like a cat. Next to that shrub with the pink flowers."
Both Rory and Jane looked. Rory shook her head. "I don't see anything. How could a cat reach that island?"
"She can't," Jane said. "There is no… Look." She shouted that last word.
Indeed 'something black' showed up between the grass, but disappeared immediately when it heard Jane's voice.
"We have to warn mom there is a cat on the island," Mason said.
Jane didn't react, staring at the island and then suddenly said: "We can use the Hepburns' boat."
"The Hepburns?" Rory asked.
"Our neighbors," Mason answered, pointing to the right. Rory looked and – indeed – at the neighbors there was a simple boat, kind of rowing boat, bound to a stake.
"There is a boat," Rory admitted.
"With it we have been to the island before," Jane suggested. "Mr Hepburn did take us boating a few times. Last month we went around the island and I punted."
Rory wanted to ask what punted meant, but Mason reacted quicker: "Mom and dad won't allow us to go by ourselves. And we should ask mr Hepburn whether we could use the boat."
"Mrs Hepburn said we can borrow the boat if we want."
Mason frowned. "I don't think she meant we can just take it without telling her."
"Did she say we could borrow it?"
"Yes, but…"
"Come," Jane said and passed through the small hedge between the two gardens.
Rory followed her and after a few moments Mason also came. "I don't know, Jane. We should tell mom and dad we go boating. What if it capsizes?"
"Then you go tell mom and I will take a look on the island," Jane yelled. "I want to see the cat. Maybe someone dumped her on the island, maybe she is hungry or desperate."
"Or both," Rory answered. They had reached the boat. "But there are no oars."
"No oars," Jane said. "A pole. You move the boat by punting, that is pushing with that pole in the bottom of the lake. Mr Hepburn learned me how to do it. Well, he tried to learn both me and Mason, but Mason can't keep the boat straight at all. He just zigzags to nowhere when he tries." The girl had already jumped into the boat and was loosening the rope.
Rory followed Jane, but Mason didn't. "We should ask mrs Hepburn and tell mom."
"You go tell them," Jane replied. The girl had taken the pole, was standing in the back of the boat and pushed them away from the bank.
"Won't your mom be angry?" Rory asked.
"Never. Not to save an animal," Jane answered while punting the boat in a straight line to the island. "If she has finished her sermon for next Sunday she will come to see if we're ok."
"Her sermon…" Rory mumbled and then nodded. My father is the devil she had told the twins when they first met, a month ago. My mother is a Methodist pastor Jane had answered and she says the devil doesn't exist. Rory had just grinned and shrugged. And mrs Verner, the twin's mother, had said the same a few days later. Your daddy does mean that as a metaphor, you will understand when you're older.
In the meanwhile Jane had brought herself and Rory to the island. She used the rope to tie the boat to a branch and helped Rory to step ashore. "How do we find that cat?" Jane asked.
Rory looked around. Almost a solid wall of long grass, shrubs, some low trees, sunflowers, rosebush, hogweed. Seeing just two yards further was already difficult. "We just hope she is not afraid of us and comes to us." She stepped forwards and pushed some branches aside. Jane followed and the next ten minutes the girls wandered without any system or plan through the vegetation. Suddenly they heard hissing behind them. They looked back and saw the cat, right behind them. It hissed, showing its teeth. He or she was black and big, with paws twice as thick as an average cat.
"Hello, pussy," Jane said. "We come to help you, mmm. He is such a sweety. Come." She crouched and held out her hand to pet the animal. The cat appeared to have different ideas about being a sweety: a paw flashed with the nails out. Jane screamed and stepped back. The nails had torn her sleeve and had left some bleeding scratches on her arm.
"Maybe he doesn't want help," Rory said with a grin.
"Of course he wants help," Jane said, ignoring the bleeding. "He is just a bit afraid. Or she." She reached out again but this time recoiled in time when the paw was raised again. "How do we get her?"
"Or him," Rory mumbled. "Let me try. My skin is a bit tougher." She kneeled and reached out with both hands. The cat clawed and bit. Both sleeves of her shirt were torn to shreds, but – as she knew – the teeth and nails of an animal would not damage a half-angel's skin.
She picked the cat up and hold it close. The nails now attacked her breast and face, causing more harm to her shirt, but not to her body. She petted the animal and it slowly relaxed, the attacks stopped and it started to purr.
"You think you can take her to the boat?" Jane asked. "We call him Noah."
"Maybe he already has a name. Or he is a she."
Jane shrugged. "We need a name now. Come, we go back."
The boat with Jane, Rory and Noah was on the way back and had almost reached the Hepburn yard when mrs Verner and Mason appeared.
"Shouldn't you have asked, Jane Penelope Verner?" mrs Verner said, while Jane pushed the boat against the bank.
"Mommy, their was a cat and he was lonely and hungry and we call him Noah."
Well lonely had been true, Rory agreed silently, but that hungry was just a guess. Although Jane's claims might be a bit overdone, mrs Verner looked at the cat in Rory's arms and smiled endearingly. "That's a really big one. Noah? Is it a tomcat?"
"I don't know," Rory said and let mrs Verner help her to get ashore while she had to held Noah in her arms. "He is purring."
"He is purring strange," Mason said. "He stops and starts purring all the time."
"You're bleeding," mrs Verner said to her daughter.
"First Noah was a bit afraid, but the bleeding almost has stopped already," Jane said.
Mrs Verner looked at Rory. "Girl, your shirt."
"Noah struggled a bit."
"Are you not wounded? See your sleeves. How is it possible your skin is still intact?"
"I have a tough skin," Rory answered.
They took Noah to the Verner's home and to the kitchen to give him some meat and milk. Mrs Verner treated her daughter's arm with plasters and iodine and took a second look at Rory's arms and breast.
"Impossible. There are dozens of cracks and snags in your shirt and not a scratch on your skin."
Rory shrugged and grinned and decided it was useless to say again her skin was tougher than human skin.
"Is it a cat?" Mason asked, sitting on his knees next to the drinking Noah.
"It is certainly not a dog," Jane snapped.
"It's so big for a cat and it's paws are too wide."
For some seconds Rory stared at Noah and realized Mason was right. Noah was really big for a cat. "Ayaya will know," she said. "He knows everything."
"Who is ayaya?" Jane asked.
"My father's father. We call him ayaya. My mother's father we call granddad. And the father of Trixie's father we can abuelo, that is Spanish." Rory folded her hands for a second and then said: "Ayaya says it's not a cat, it's a young black panther."
"He says…" Mrs Verner stared at her. "When did he say that?"
"He just told me. We should call Animal Care to take care of Noah."
"But we should keep him," Jane objected.
For a second Rory folded her hands again and then shook her head. "He is not a pet, he is a wild animal."
Mrs Verner was still staring at Rory. Then she swallowed and mumbled. "Yes. Yes. I will call Animal Care."
After mrs Verner made the call. Jane asked: "Why do you call your grandpa ayaya? Is that his name?"
"No. It just means grandfather. Just as for Trixie's father's father we use abuelo, that is grandfather in Spanish, we use ayaya for my father's father. That is Sumerian."
"Sumerian," mrs Verner whispered with a pale face. She slowly sank in a chair, folded her hands and closed her eyes.
[C]
Lucifer was paying the waitress while Chloe, Raziel and Maze slowly walked to the exit of the bar were the four had have a drink together. "...to San Diego to a concert," Raziel said.
Chloe nodded.
"We better hurry or we'll be late," Maze added.
"You prefer to be late so you can hurry, meaning break all speed limits with your motorbike," Raziel said. "With me on the back, holding you tight."
Maze almost purred. "Honey, I love it when you hold me tight."
Outside the four turned to where Maze' bike was parked. A woman was sitting on the bike. Young, almost a girl, was Chloe's first thought, Ageless as an angel was her second thought, but Raziel didn't show she recognized her. The woman had black hair with dyed pink highlights, a punk look and bulky army boots. A long, black coat was hanging over the handlebars. Somehow the woman looked familiar to Chloe, but she had no clue who it was.
"Bloody hell," Maze snapped. "Hey, you!"
The woman smiled and waved. That apparently confused Maze. "Do I know you?"
"Oh yes, aunt Maze."
"Aunt? I'm not your aunt. Who are you?"
The woman now laughed. "Someone that just want to talk for two minutes with her aunts." She winked at Raziel.
Maze turned to Raziel. "Do you know her? Is she one of your sisters?"
Raziel hesitated for a second and shook her head. "No. Not possible."
Maze turned back to the unknown woman. "So. We don't know you. You better move your butt from…"
"Almost, aunt Maze," the woman said. She pointed at the entrance of the parking place. "It's only to hold you here until the truck has crashed."
Just as the other three Chloe turned to look where the woman pointed. A car left the parking place, another entered, but no truck was visible at the entrance. Chloe turned back.
"What the hell?" Maze cursed. The woman was gone, the coat over the handlebars was gone. All four looked around.
"How…" Chloe whispered. They had looked at the entrance for not more than a second. All around the bake there was no place to hide, but the woman was gone as if she had vanished in thin air.
Maze cursed again, Chloe looked at the bike and understood why: hidden before by the long coat, but now in clear view were ropes, wrapped around the handlebars and the front wheel. Still cursing Maze pulled a knife and within a minute she had removed the ropes.
Exactly at that moment they heard screeching tires, followed by a loud bang. They turned again and saw a truck that had crashed again a parked car close to the entrance. For seconds all four just stared at the crash. Then Maze looked at her bike, her eyes followed the route she would have taken to the entrance/exit. "I think…" Maze swallowed.
"What do you think?" Lucifer asked.
"If that woman had not distracted us, Raziel and I would have been exiting the parking place. Just when that truck came in."
"We would have been in that accident?" Raziel asked.
Maze nodded.
Chloe took a deep breath. For her it would be impossible to be sure, but she knew how exactly the demoness could predict where every opponent would be during a fight. This must be something alike. "But you're both immortal… So…"
"I am," Raziel said. "But a demon…" She took Maze in her arms. "Maze won't age and won't die from illness or so. But a demon can be killed by force."
"How did that woman know that truck would come?" Lucifer asked. "Why was she here? Did she want to threaten Maze and Raziel? Did she want to save them? Who and what was she?"
"Where did she go?" Chloe added.
Maze sniffed, walked around the bike and frowned. "She smells very much like Rory. I can sense her smell on the bike, but not around. As if she has flown away. Are you sure she was no angel?"
Raziel thought for a few seconds and then folded her hands. A few moments later God appeared. "A truck? An accident? What is happening?"
"You ask?" Lucifer said. "You're expected to know everything."
His dad shook his head. "This is not as it should be. It's the same as when that truck crashed just in front of Rory and her sitters. This shouldn't have happened. That thing was not supposed to be on that road. Something with the patterns is wrong, the chain of cause and effect. It's not how it should have been,"
"But Rory is not involved this time," Raziel said.
"What do you mean?" God asked.
"You said you would watch Rory, as if you thought it was a threat to her."
"To who else?"
Raziel grabbed Maze hand. "Na'amah would have been hit by the earlier crash. Maze would been involved in this one. And you said something is wrong with pattern of cause and effect."
Just as all others Chloe looked at Raziel, waiting for her to say more. The angel took a deep breath. "Patterns. Remember Uriel looked angry when Maze and Na'amah did visit my garden in heaven…"